Prof. Kwabena Mante Bosompem is the Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), University of Ghana. He led a team of researchers at NMIMR to develop a cost effective, non-invasive, rapid field-applicable monoclonal antibody-based dipstick assay for urinary schistosomiasis.

Prof. K. M Bosompem served as member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Task Force on African Trypanosomiasis, and he was consultant to the WHO on several occasions. He also served as a member of the Editorial Board of “Parasitology International”. He has lectured in Applied Parasitology, Microbiology/Immunology and Veterinary Microbiology and trained students including undergraduates; Higher National Diplomas (HND), BSc, M.Phils and Ph.Ds. from several universities including the University of Ghana, the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, and the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands. He has over “70 publications in International Journals and he has contributed to pioneering work on toxoplasmosis and biomining.

Prof. Bosompem has been Chairman of the Research Board of the College of Health Sciences (comprised of the University of Ghana School of Medicine and Dentistry, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, School of Public Health, School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences). He was a member of the Board of the National Biosafety Authority of Ghana. He is also a Member of Ghana’s Committee for implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNHCR) 1540 on Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) materials. He is also Team Leader of the Sub-committee on – Biological non-proliferation; and member of CBRN Centres of Excellence “Project 17” for “Establishing a national response plan in Ghana and Kenya for responding to unauthorized events involving CBRN”. He was also National President of the Ghana Red Cross Society.

His biography was published in the Millennium Edition of Marquis WHO’s WHO (2000) recognising today’s global leaders in every important field of endeavour. Through his interest in social research and development, he initiated the philosophy and concept of comprehensive community mobilization through Community Directed Development, and he is the Founder of Community Directed Development Foundation (CDDF).

The management and staff of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) wish to congratulate Dr. Samuel Dadzie, a medical entomologist at the Institute on his new appointment as a Senior Research Fellow.Dr. Samuel Kweku Dadzie holds a PhD in Vector Biology from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK.

He has extensive experience in medical entomology in both field and laboratory techniques. His research interest focuses on vector biology with emphasis on the application of modern methods to address the burden of vector-borne diseases.He coordinates the field and laboratory components of entomology projects in the Department of Parasitology of the Institute. He also provides training on basic entomological techniques in Ghana and in many countries outside Ghana .

Dr. Dadzie is a member of several committees in Ghana including the Malaria Vector Control Oversight Committee and Malaria Research Advisory Group of the Ghana National Malaria Control Programme, Intra-country Advisory Committee on Neglected Tropical Diseases, and Technical Advisory Committee of Zoomlion Nationwide Mosquito Control Programme among others. He is the Focal person for African Network of Vector Resistance (ANVR/WHO/AFRO) in Ghana.He recently developed the National Insecticide Resistance Monitoring Partnership for the Ghana National Malaria Control Program and currently the Program Director. Dr Dadzie also teaches and supervises students at the African Postgraduate Programme of Insect Sciences (ARPPIS), University of Ghana. He is also a member of American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Dr. Dadzie has about 30 publications to his name.

The Institute wishes you well as you climb to attain new goals in life.

My passion is to make immense contribution to improving the quality of human health by expanding our current knowledge in the field of human immunology and immunogenetics of infectious and non-communicable diseases through research and teaching.

Best PhD Presentation: 1st Research Program in Global Health Annual Research Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark, November, 2011.

Research interest

My research interest is mainly focused on understanding immunogenetic factors that influence the outcome of host pathogen interactions and the mechanisms of pathogenesis mediated by these factors. Currently, my research includes identification of immunological and genetic correlates of protective immunity against malaria towards the discovery of an efficacious malaria vaccine that can prevent disease and/or interrupt transmission. I am keenly interested in human structural genomic/genetic variations and how these impact on susceptibility to both infectious and non-communicable diseases. I am also involved in malaria and helminthes co-infections studies and how helminths infestation impact on the immune response during Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Dr. William Ampofo is a Senior Research Fellow, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana. He has a Bachelor’s degree from University of Ghana Legon, and a PhD. from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.

Research Interests:

His research interests include molecular and serological investigations of viruses, prevention of viral infections, anti-viral therapy and viral disease.

Career milestones include the laboratory discovery of the first Ghanaian case of HIV in 1986, first isolation of wild type poliovirus in Ghana, confirmation of first cases in 2007 of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus in Ghanaian poultry and establishment of the National Influenza Centre in Ghana 2007. Recently, he supervised the laboratory detection (December 2011) of the first ever cases of Lassa fever virus infection in humans and rodents in Ghana.

Dr Ampofo also has teaching responsibilities in the University of Ghana, overseeing both undergraduate and postgraduate research. His publications cover medicine, immunology, microbiology, biological sciences and molecular biology. He has a keen interest in the area of maternal and child health and has collaborated in studies on HIV, Hepatitis B and Influenza. He is a recipient of a Commonwealth Scholarship Commission Fellowship as a Visiting Scientist at World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Influenza, National Institute for Medical Research, U.K.

In recognition of his significant contribution towards the establishment of surveillance for influenza in Ghana, Dr Ampofo was awarded a United States (US) Department of Defence – Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response program Medal of Achievement.He is a key member of Institutional (ie Biosafety) and national committees (such as HIV Drug Resistance, Laboratory Quality and Pandemic Influenza). Dr. Ampofo has participated in several pandemic influenza preparedness and response activities in Ghana. He has served internationally on temporary assignments with the World Health Organization (WHO), Commonwealth Secretariat Health Division, US Department of Defense, German International Development Agency and the US Agency for International Development.

In 2010, he was appointed a member of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts Working Group for Influenza vaccines and Immunization. Since October 2011, he is one of three African region representatives serving on the WHO Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Advisory Group. August 2012 also saw his appointment by the WHO Director-General to a new two year membership of the Global Action Plan Advisory Group for Influenza Vaccines. Dr Ampofo is also currently the American Society for Microbiology Ambassador for Ghana.

He is married with three children and this former national cricketer is currently President of the Ghana Cricket Association.

Details of Research Projects -

Title:Quality Assurance of HIV testing in Ghana

Role: Co – Investigator

Budget: about $10,000.0

Period: 1998 to 2003

Title:Rural outreach on HIV/AIDS and STD awareness:Birim-North District of Ghana.

Role:Project Coordinator

Budget: GH¢120,000.0 (US $80,000.0)

Period:2000 to 2002

Title:Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in Ghana.

Maternal HIV is associated with reduced growth in the first year of life among infants in the Eastern region of Ghana: the Research to Improve Infant Nutrition and Growth (RIING) Project" by Lartey, Anna; Marquis, Grace; Mazur, Robert; Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael; Brakohiapa, Lucy; Ampofo, William; Sellen, Daniel; Adu-Afarwuah, Seth.Maternal and Child Nutrition. 2012. DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-8709.2012.00441.x

Maternal HIV is associated with reduced growth in the first year of life among infants in the Eastern region of Ghana.Anna Lartey, Grace S Marquis, Rafael Perez-Escamilla, Robert Mazur, Lucy Brakohiapa, William Ampofo and Dan Sellen. FASEB J March 17, 2011 25:216.2

Dr. Mrs. Evelyn Yayra Afua Bonney is a Research Fellow in the Virology Department of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.She holds a BSc. Honours in Biochemistry and Nutrition, an MPhil in Biochemistry and a PhD in Biochemistry; all from the University of Ghana.

Her career milestones include laboratory diagnosis and confirmation of the first cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in 2007 and the receipt of the first ever NMIMR Best Research Assistant Award in 2014.

She has teaching responsibilities for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in the University of Ghana and these include:

2) Instructor, MA HIV/AIDS Management, Department of Adult Education and Human Resource Studies, School of Continuing and Distance Education, College of Education

She is a recipient of HIV Research Trust Scholarship from The HIV Research Trust, UK in 2007 and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-sponsored NMIMR Postdoctoral Fellowship 2015.

She has co-authored 7 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, books and book chapters and a number of conference papers.

Administrative Role

1. Laboratory Supervisor of HIV Genotyping Lab

2. Quality Focal Person for Virology Department

Research Interests

Host factors/proteins influencing viral infections

Antiviral therapy,susceptibility and resistance

3.Genetic variability of HIV, HTLV-1, HPV and Influenza viruses;

4.Co-infections of HIV and other infections among key population

She is interested in identifying appropriate and affordable molecular markers for monitoring patients on antiretroviral therapy, investigating the contribution of host cellular factors to the differential response to HIV infection and viral persistence even during combination antiretroviral therapy, genotyping of high risk human papilloma viruses associated with cervical cancers, genetic variability, antiviral susceptibility and drug resistance implications of HIV-2 and HIV-1/HIV-2 dual infection among patients on HIV-1 based antiretroviral therapy and impact of co-infections such as HPV, HTLV-1, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C on the development of drug resistance in HIV patients on ART and their clinical outcomes.

Projects:

Contributions of APOBEC3G levels, genetic variation in the vif gene and drug resistance mutations to the outcome of antiretroviral therapy in HIV patients(Principal Investigator)

1. Ugly-Kwame, Evelyn Y. (1998). Dietary Patterns, Lifestyle and Physical Development of SSS students in the Ho District of the Volta Region of Ghana, A Dissertation submitted to the University of Ghana in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of BSc. Honours degree in Biochemistry and Nutrition.

2. Ugly-Kwame, Evelyn Y. (2003). Genetic Analysis of HIV strains in Ghanaian HIV-1 and HIV-2 dually seroreactive specimens. A thesis submitted to the University of Ghana, School of graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of MPhil degree in Biochemistry.

3. Bonney Evelyn Yayra A. (2013), Drug Resistance Mutations in HIV Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy in Ghana, A thesis submitted to the University of Ghana, School of graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biochemistry.

Book Chapter (s)

William K. Ampofo and Evelyn Y. Bonney (2014), Investigations to support the prevention and management of HIV in Ghana, University of Ghana Reader Series Volume 2, Sub-Saharan Publishers, pages 220-229

She contributed to Chapter 10 (on Viruses) of the book “Molecules of LIFE; Structure and Function at a glance” by Dr. J. P. Adjimani (2008) published by Beno Publications, Accra.